Sunday in Geislingen

Yesterday, Claudia, the kids and I spent the day in Geislingen (and nearby Süßen) with Pastors Stefan and Debby Oesterling. (I'm sorry for showing only his picture. I forgot the camera and only could find his picture on the web.) I was invited to speak at the church - and it went well except that my PowerPoint was in Russian (I put the wrong file on the stick). It got a little awkward when they wanted to read the Bible text along with me. Afterward we spent the afternoon at their home enjoying pizza and watching the kids (our three and their three) have fun in the sun.

The Church of God in Germany is about 60 years old (unless you count the "unofficial" work during the Nazi war era). Most of our younger pastors in German are bi-vocational. That is to say, they must work a full-time secular job and spend the evenings and weekends for a church that is not able to pay them a salary. Additionally, many of these smaller churches have been around for a while -- they are not new church plants, but churches in need of a turnaround.

This is also the case with Stefan who works as an insurance agent. While in his mid-twenties, he assumed the pastorate from a retiring minister. And although there were some young couples in the church, there was (and still is) a considerable percentage of seniors in the church.

It was refreshing for Claudia and me to see how the church has grown over the years. Stefan has brought in much change in the church over the years. But he'll be the first to tell you that it has been a slow process that has taken place with the help of the Holy Spirit. And they're facing transition since one of their leading young couples (Chris and Lambrini Lindeman) will move to the States in September.